I prefer wide back on the long arm---just seems to play nicer to me. and I routinely carry a bolt of 108" of Moda's bleached muslin--it's so soft and has a great hand. And while it's darn near impossible for wideback to come off the bolt straight of grain, this muslin comes pretty darn close! I don't pre-wash it but load on the frame and then to get out wrinkles I spray it with water and let dry overnight before loading a quilt--that seems to shrink it plenty. Color wideback I do wash.